African journo wins at 2013 IWMF Awards

7 May 2013

For the past 22 years, the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) has paid tribute to women journalists who risk their lives to report the news with its Courage in Journalism Awards. The winners for this year have been announced.

Edna Machirori

Lifetime Achievement Award

The IWMF Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Edna Machirori, the first black female newspaper editor in Zimbabwe. As a woman journalist in post-colonial Zimbabwe, Machirori rose through the ranks of several newspapers, including The Chronicle and The Financial Gazette, in spite of a deeply patriarchal culture. Now, Machirori continues to write about development, corruption and social issues for The Daily News, among other publications.

Journalists who were honoured this year are:

Najiba Ayubi, 45, managing director for The Killid Group in Afghanistan. Ayubi has spent more than a decade working under anonymous threats and attacks from government entities for her reporting on politics and women's rights. She leads a team of reporters working in print, broadcast and online media and has refused calls for censorship.

Nour Kelze, 25, photojournalist for Reuters in Syria. Kelze occupies the front lines of the conflict in her country, working to document the human cost of the Syrian revolution. She has been shot at countless times, hospitalised twice for wounds sustained while photographing, and targeted in pro-Assad propaganda.

Bopha Phorn, 28, reporter for The Cambodia Daily in Cambodia. Phorn's reporting on environmental exploitation nearly got her killed in October 2012, when her car came under heavy fire during a reporting trip in the Cambodian jungle. Her coverage of crime, land rights abuses and human rights issues have led to ongoing threats.

The Courage in Journalism Awards and Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented at ceremonies in New York on 23 October and in Los Angeles on 29 October.

For more, go to www.iwmf.org.